• Thank you all very much for sharing your time with us in 2025. We hope you all have a safe and happy 2026!

New Father Tips

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 15344
  • Start date Start date
Hobbit said:
Having not stopped playing at least 4 times week when my first brood arrived, and experiencing divorce because of my selfishness, I'd recommend you really do consider the balance... if I had the chance again I'd do things very differently.
Click to expand...

Would you play 5 times rather than 4 ;)

We found having a routine helped massively but everyone is different. Take advice but don't always use it, like someone says don't go by the books, forums or social media advice - you'll figure it and find your feet.

Also try not to fall asleep through night feeds!!!
 
Congratulations.

The thing is with daughters, mine is 20, is that you don't just have one penis to worry about, you have many. Between you and your missus, be as open and honest with her as she grows, respect her and she will respect you.

Oh yeah, bulk up, hit the gym now and by the time she's bringing her first friend who happens to be a boy home, there'll enough there to keep him wary.
 
Just prepare yourself for the most emotionally fantastic, stressful, tiring, jubilant and brilliant time of your life. I have a 4.5 year old girl, I thought I was well prepared for her arrival but I fell to bits with joy and happiness on her arrival. It's impossible to explain, it's a binary switch going from an expectant parent to holding your new born. Incredible times ahead for you.

I have never felt so useless or powerless as a person as I did during the birth. It wasn't an easy one. No matter how much you think you've prepared it will more than likely turn out differently to anything you've read or been told and it'll shock you. But, my golly gosh, the reward at the end of it all is impossible to put into words.

The best thing I purchased was one of these. Mrs laughed and called me crazy but of all the "unessential" stuff it was easily the single most useful purchase. http://www.mothercare.com/nappy-dis...6737.html?cgid=babycare_nappydisposal#start=1

Supermarket own-brand nappies are absolutely great quality, we used Tesco. Don't bother with top brands.

Make sure you keep a well stock supply of food in the house around due date. Get some "comfort food" ready meals in the freezer. You'll probably be wrecked on your return home and the last thing you want to do is nip out for missing supplies and you'll want energy dense easy to prepare food in a hurry. Some friends of ours brought cream cakes over the day we got back - wow! - were they good. :D

Best tip of all; don't listen to other people's tips. You'll find your own ways and that's all part of the magic.
 
Daughters are easy until they get to about 12, then you are in for big trouble. I hear it gets better when they are about 35.:eek:

Don't let her get into competitive swimming unless you want to be getting up at 5.00 most mornings.:eek: Get her into tennis as soon as possible, as that is where the money is, and she could be your pension.:thup:

Move closer to grandparents, so you have ready made babysitters ?
 
Pictures, pictures and more pictures. Take loads of photos at all stages. Also make sure that you are in plenty of them, if you are the main photo taker. Very easy for the photo taker never to be seen.

If someone offers to babysit then take them up on it. You will never be more tired and the chance of either a night out or a chance for a proper sleep is a godsend. Don't be over polite, take people up on their offer.

Enjoy, it's brilliant.
 
1. Trust your instincts. (i am talking when they a little older, but still very valid)

When you think they are ill, you are their only voice. You might think you are p'ing off the doctors, so what. you have paid NI for years, you deserve the best. If you think they are not right push, push and push some more. Docs tried fobbing us off with a cold, turned out my eldest had pneumonia aged 2 and was admitted via ambulance in the end and was all sorted. Turned out she had an allergy to mold and damp spores which were in the bark at nursery playground!

2. Someone else said it, there is no instruction manual and there are no rights and wrongs. Something tells me about you Phil, that you wont worry about what other people think, but as soon as a baby is involved, then Christ are they judgemental... even during pregnancy, your wife will be hearing on a daily basis "oh your big for x weeks' 'oh your small for x weeks' Unless its a midwife or a doctor, laugh it off. If your mrs wants to bottle feed rather than breast feed, don't be pressured. All my kids have been bottle fed, my eldest is in the top 5% in her year, my lad is doing well, younger two are perfectly happy and healthy. Just do what you want, stick to your guns and be prepared for judgemental eyes and voices..

3. Save money. Kids are expensive, no getting round it! Sign up to Costco or similar and buy shizzle in bulk, ie nappies, wipes etc.

4. Enjoy it! Its an amazing experience, you will never look at your wife's lady area in the same way again, but it all still works after.

5. Take pictures and videos regularly. I saw a guy who took a pic of his first born every day for the first year and made a book from it, hindsight is wonderful to do that.

6. Take your share of the load, I know you will, but its not 1960 anymore, do your bit!

7. Be very careful for the first few months, unless you want 2 quickly, women are highly fertile after child birth.

8. If you want tips on getting the baby out before due date, best ones we had given were, Curry, Pineapple, Raspberry lead (tea) and some nookie. Plus walking, lots of walking, get the mrs going up and down the stairs.

9. Be ready, have the hospital bag in the car, know your route and have a contingency, always have enough fuel in the car, get a bag of change in the hospital bag for coffee, snacks, vending machine etc.

10. Buy your wife something nice from baby, she deserves it!!

Seriously, any Q's drop me a PM, Kids is one of my specialist subjects! I'm a pretty big deal in the kid production world...

Oh and keep your sense of humour! ;)

Jimaroid has nailed it too with own brand nappies and wipes, after they are out of newborn stuff, the sainsburys or tesco own are perfectly good for soaking up wee and poo, why pay twice the price?!
 
Congrats Phil.

Only piece of advice I can give is to just enjoy it. Even when you're knackered, emotionally unstable and desperate for a pint... Enjoy every moment, because before you know it they'll be old enough to prefer spending time with their friends :(

Oh, and everyone overdoes it with the firstborn. You'll sterilise everything in sight and do everything by the book. All the experienced parents will tell you that you don't need to do it, but you should carry on regardless. You'll learn your own way when you have the 2nd.
 
Cheers for all the responses guys -

Karen I'm afraid all the pink stuff is already rolling in :D

Lots of great stuff

And to top it off with the master of kids - Rooter , laughed out loud , :thup:
 
Congrats Phil and Mrs Phil!

My daughter turns 1 next Wednesday and it really has flown by. You'll get loads of advice, some good some bad. You get told how to do stuff, weve found most of that to be tosh. Most of all, she'll let you know what's good, what's bad, what works. You'll figure it out.

Congratulations and it really does fly by. Seems like only yesterday that we had a quiet night in Chorley hospital.

Oh aye, best thing we got given was a sleeping / grow bag thing, clips over her shoulders. Put Scarlett in it when she was 8 weeks and she immediately started sleeping straight through. Godsend.
 
Absolutely agree with the photo/video tips, you can never have enough.

Something else we did when our daughter was born, was to set up an email address for her, which she doesn't know about. Every now and then (birthday, christmas, special events etc) we send her an email detailing some of the stuff she's been up to, thing's she's done that have made us proud of her, with some photo's and videos. When she's 18 we'll let her open the inbox and read all the emails, watch the vids and see the pictures. Should hopefully mean that we won't forget the growing up years, and she'll have an account of her childhood which we otherwise might not have documented.

Oh, and don't let her get her hands on a jumbo size pot of sudocreme when she's about 2 and supposed to be having a nap in her newly decorated nursery. It's a bloody nightmare to clear up and no amount of barrier spray completely covers the marks on the wall when you re-paint.

Other than that, have fun, and enjoy it :thup:
 
Break90 said:
Absolutely agree with the photo/video tips, you can never have enough.

Something else we did when our daughter was born, was to set up an email address for her, which she doesn't know about. Every now and then (birthday, christmas, special events etc) we send her an email detailing some of the stuff she's been up to, thing's she's done that have made us proud of her, with some photo's and videos. When she's 18 we'll let her open the inbox and read all the emails, watch the vids and see the pictures. Should hopefully mean that we won't forget the growing up years, and she'll have an account of her childhood which we otherwise might not have documented.

Oh, and don't let her get her hands on a jumbo size pot of sudocreme when she's about 2 and supposed to be having a nap in her newly decorated nursery. It's a bloody nightmare to clear up and no amount of barrier spray completely covers the marks on the wall when you re-paint.

Other than that, have fun, and enjoy it :thup:
Click to expand...

What an absolutely brilliant idea - cheers for that :thup:
 
Break90 said:
Absolutely agree with the photo/video tips, you can never have enough.

Something else we did when our daughter was born, was to set up an email address for her, which she doesn't know about. Every now and then (birthday, christmas, special events etc) we send her an email detailing some of the stuff she's been up to, thing's she's done that have made us proud of her, with some photo's and videos. When she's 18 we'll let her open the inbox and read all the emails, watch the vids and see the pictures. Should hopefully mean that we won't forget the growing up years, and she'll have an account of her childhood which we otherwise might not have documented.
Click to expand...

Now that is a bloody good idea. Might do that even though my 2 are 12 and 10.
 
Congratulations Phil

Just a thought for the grandparents, my daughter set up Tinybeans for us when she had her daughter, ever time she took a photo it was sent to us it lasted for the first year, so good to get regular photos when she was small.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

SwingsitlikeHogan
VW Polo 1.2 2013 Plate Timing Chain
2
Replies
31
Views
5K
Deleted member 21784
D
BunkerPlayer
Foursomes with a Pro... any last bit of advice?
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
BunkerPlayer
BunkerPlayer
H
The hype around caddies
2 3
Replies
44
Views
1K
jim8flog
jim8flog
A
Recommendations for new Driver
2
Replies
28
Views
5K
RichA
R
SwingsitlikeHogan
Lateral Relief Stance
Replies
7
Views
2K
SwingsitlikeHogan
SwingsitlikeHogan
Top